Local Advertising & Design, Circa 1892

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This designs have roughly 5-10 different fonts each, hyphenation, and an excessive use of commas but still I'm 100% enamored by the styling of these advertisements dating from 1892. I found them while looking up my family's listings in the Lancaster, PA phone directory and they really make me yearn for learning the printing press (if only time was on my side). As a whole, you can tell the same group of men put together all of the ads in the directories as the look and feel of the book has an incredible continuity despite the eclectic nature of the design elements.

Collaborating With Old Friends…

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Friends and family, let the fraternal brotherhood once again rise from the ashes. Organizing and uniting on the soils of Europe and the United States in 2011.

Call For Entries! Um, No Thank You…

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It's that time of year, people: Everyone from How and Print magazines to the AIGA and Society of Illustrators are sending out their "Call For Entries" emails and promotional mailers. What an exciting time to be a communication artist, right? Wrong. Instead of buzzing about putting all of my entries together, I'm recycling all the mailers and deleting the emails immediately like I always do. Why, you ask?

• I value my client's praise and their willingness to hire me over and over again above and beyond anything else. Be it a book design, an ad, a marketing tool, or an album cover – that's all I'll ever need to be happy doing what I'm doing.
• I value my money and with fees of $65 per entry, I'd rather play the state lottery for $1 and have a better chance of winning.

But most of all…

• I've never been a schmoozer and when it comes to competitions, it's all about who created it ("Oh, wow, their agency is fantastic – I love this!") and what the subject matter is ("Check out this Elvis Costello CD and this Vampire Weekend tour poster!"). I can't tell you how many times I've seen the worst turd of a piece appear in these "best of" annuals that I wouldn't have even shown the client – let alone submitted for competition. Good luck finding anything that strays from the political left (that isn't mocking it), underground (that isn't ironically trendy), or non-hipster (that isn't ironically non-hipster) in the winner's pile – and that's not mere coincidence.

Now, I understand that it's exciting to see your work in print and that many people live for this time of year – for whatever their reason. For me, however, it's just not my concern and 2011 isn't going to see that change.

Puttin' The "Neutra" In Neutraface!

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Inspiration for the wildly-popular Neutraface font by House Industries, architect Richard Neutra (1892-1970), a native of Vienna, Austria, moved to Los Angeles in 1925 to work with Rudolph Schindler on Frank Lloyd Wright's Barnsdall Park project. In 1929, Neutra became famous in his own right with the completion of his landmark Modernist Lovell House in the Los Feliz section of Los Angeles. Over the next 20 years, Neutra became one of the recognized innovators and leaders of Modernist architecture.



We're talking Neutra today because I recently came across a real estate flier that listed the Neutra Office Building in Silver Lake, Los Angeles, CA. Listed for auction with a starting price of $3.5 million, the office may or may not still be available for purchase. While the attached photo doesn't do it justice, here's the full details from the real estate flier:

"The Neutra Office building, a pristine example of the work of one of the seminal architects of the Modernist movement in Los Angeles, has come on the market. It is where Dion Neutra, the present owner, has presided over this creative epicenter for the past 40 years and where the Chavez Ravine housing, US Embassy in Karachi, Los Angeles Hall of Records, Gettysburg Memorial, Orange County Courthouse, Huntington Beach Library and many other masterpieces were designed. It is a City of Los Angeles Monument, listed on the National Register of Historic Places and is a focus of pride for Silver Lake where so many Neutra buildings have defined the area. Dion Neutra, son and partner of Richard Neutra served as Project Architect supervising Red March, the Neutras’ favorite contractor.

"The incomparable value of this property derives from the fact that it is literally the only remaining example of Neutra commercial design, still with its original look. This is a Trophy property for an owner/collector who will carry the Neutra legacy proudly into the future, co-branding their own ventures and mission with the power of this icon."

For a jaw-dropping, mouth-watering, awe-inspiring exploration of all Los Angeles real estate listings linked to Richard Neutra, go here.

And, of course, to buy the Neutraface font, go here.